Flyers search for answers after SO loss

Shea Weber had a goal and two assists in the Predators' 4-3 shootout win over the Flyers. (USA Today Images)

The Flyers caught a break the first time they played the Nashville Predators this season. They weren’t so lucky the second time.

Back on Nov. 30, the Flyers beat the Predators in a shootout. Nashville defenseman Shea Weber missed that game with an eye injury. He didn’t miss Thursday’s rematch -- much to the chagrin of the Flyers and their fans.

Nashville beat the Flyers, 4-3 in a shootout, at the Wells Fargo Center on Thursday evening (see Instant Replay). Weber was involved in all three goals during regulation. He had an assist on each of the first two and scored in the third period.

“It’s a tough place to play,” Weber said. “They’re a tough team. Obviously we would have liked to win in regulation, but they scored a power-play goal late and we were able to finish it off in a shootout. It was a confidence builder … obviously guys were squeezing their sticks a little bit. For a while there, we couldn’t score in the shootout. It was a pressure situation but we pulled it out.”

After Thursday's effort, the Predators’ captain has 20 points in his last 18 games. He also leads all NHL defensemen with 12 goals.

Weber, who was recently named to his second straight Winter Olympics for Team Canada, was frequently booed on Thursday evening. It wasn’t surprising. As Flyers fans are all too aware, Weber was awfully close to playing in Philadelphia. In the summer of 2012, the Flyers signed Weber to a 14-year, $110 million offer sheet. Weber was a restricted free agent at the time, and it was uncertain whether Nashville would match the offer. The Predators did and retained the services of the 6-4, 233-pound All-Star defenseman.

Thursday night was the first time since then that Weber has played against the Flyers. But when he was asked about that situation and what it was like to finally face a team he almost ended up playing for, Weber answered by skipping over the question.

“It was a good game,” Weber said. “They’re a good team. It’s unfortunate we didn’t get the win in regulation time. But we still got two points.”

That was it. That was all he offered -- until a Nashville reporter rephrased and asked Weber whether anyone got “chirpy” with him during the game.